Truly Madly Deeply
by Muzzy-Olorea
Summary: [GC] Set after [5.09 Mea Culpa]. Every unsavoury situation has a silver lining …..
1. Part One

**Truly Madly Deeply**

**GC Set after S5 'Mea Culpa'. Every bad situation has a silver lining …..**

**Part One**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or CSI. I do however own my imagination, my Muse, my insanity, my fangirliness and my dreams.**_

**A/N:- This was originally going to be a one-shot but it's turned into a two-parter because I couldn't stop writing.**

Catherine looked at herself in the mirror by the front door and the usually impeccably dressed and made up woman that she presented to the world was replaced with a dishevelled, spaghetti top and tracksuit bottom wearing slob. She hoped whoever the other side of the door was just some annoying door-to-door salesman.

"Hey. These are for you." Gil said, handing her a bunch of flowers as soon as she opened the door.

"Wow, what's the occasion?" she said, standing aside and letting him in. She ran a hand through her hair wishing that she had at least thought of running a brush through it.

"I took the guys to breakfast and was there when you called Warrick." Gil said, taking his jacket off and hanging it up on his peg.

"So are these congratulatory or sympathy flowers?" Catherine laughed, filling a vase of water for them.

"It's been a tough day." Gil sighed, wandering into the lounge. "You sleeping on the sofa?" he questioned looking at the duvet and pillows covering the settee and a movie playing on mute on the TV.

"I thought that since it's not long until my next shift starts I might as well lounge about and maybe take a nap rather than hope for a good night's sleep." Catherine explained, handing Gil a beer.

He smiled his thanks. He loved how comfortable around each other they were now so half the time they didn't even need to exchange words. "I'm sorry, it totally blew right out of my head on the drive over here. I completely forgot that you need to be up by four o'clock now. I can go if you want?" he said apologetically.

"Not a chance. Sit." She said lifting the duvet a bit and pointing at the sofa. Gil did as he was told and Catherine lay down, her head in his lap.

"You know I was scared for a moment that you wouldn't take the job." Gil said quietly, sipping his beer.

"I almost didn't." Catherine admitted. "But it was either that or no job. Ecklie makes me so mad – you should have heard what he said to me beforehand. That guy's really got it in for you."

Gil sighed. "I'm sorry that as the result of my inability to handle politics you've got shifted to Swing. I know that the hours aren't exactly better."

"Gil it's not your fault."

"Maybe if I was more like you in terms of being a 'people person' Ecklie wouldn't have been on the war path and he might have been more inclined to give you Dayshift."

Catherine tilted her head back to look up at Grissom. "But then we would never have got to see each other."

"True." Gil said, running his fingers through her soft hair.

They sat in comfortable silence for awhile before Catherine let out a little giggle. "You know, I think Ecklie was trying to hit on me when I was in his office today." She could feel Grissom's thigh muscles tense in jealousy beneath her neck which made her giggle even more. "What? You can flirt with Sofia but I can't have Ecklie?" she teased.

"I've never flirted with Sofia!" Gil protested. "Besides it's not my fault I attract all these beautiful women!"

"So, she's beautiful is she?" Catherine said in mock jealousy.

"Not as beautiful as you dear." Grissom said bending down and kissing her forehead. "Besides I thought we were talking about you and Ecklie."

"You know, I think ever since you left me in the lurch and I had to go up there and make up the entire speech, which I'm still mad at you about by the way, where I basically listed every good quality, which Ecklie doesn't actually have with a fixed smile to my face, he's taken quite a shine to me." Catherine mused.

"So technically the reason why I've got competition is my fault." Grissom chuckled.

"Yup." Catherine laughed. Grissom's hand left her hair and travelled down to her stomach, his thumb gently drawing circles on the exposed skin. She closed her eyes contentedly.

"I told Nick and Warrick to take good care of you but I'm still going to be worrying like crazy because I won't be there to keep an eye on you." Gil said.

"You know, technically I've saved your ass more times than I've needed you to save mine." Catherine pointed out.

"I was hoping you wouldn't mention that. I was trying out the over-protective boyfriend act." Grissom smiled.

"I like it." Catherine said reaching up and kissing him softly on the lips. "God it's going to weird having half a team."

"Yeah, who's going to do all my paperwork for me now?" Grissom sighed. "Maybe I can convince Sara to do it."

"Just as long as 'doing paperwork' isn't a euphemism for doing other stuff."

"Ms Willows I'm shocked!" Gil said, grinning.

"Just speaking from experience." Catherine shrugged.

"That was once and only once to christen your new office." Gil pointed out. Catherine laughed, and snuggled back down. "I know it may be hard to see it now but maybe some good will come out of the split …. I mean you always wanted to supervise your own team and now you get to."

"I liked it better when you used to let me supervise our team." She sighed.

"Give me some credit. We joint supervised." Gil said, mock hurt and then as an after thought added. "Gosh, now I've got to do it all myself you better teach me some of that thing they call tact."

"You've got Sara and Sofia on your team. Just flirt and be charming and you won't need tact to keep them happy." Catherine laughed.

"Hey. Wasn't you the one who said I can't flirt anyway!" Gil said, reaching down and tickling Catherine until she squirmed.

"Well you managed to win me over just fine."

"You know, maybe us working different shifts will be good because I won't get distracted so easily." He said tenderly. "And now you're not working under me we're not breaking any rules so we can do things like get married and …"

Catherine looked up at him. "Since when does Gil Grissom want to get married?" she asked.

"Well, since I met you and fell in love and then we started dating which made me love you even more and …" Gil saw Catherine was giving him one of her looks. "And since Lindsey and I had a little talk last night whilst you were making dinner." He admitted, defeated.

Catherine sat upright in shock. "What did she say?" she asked, worriedly.

"Nothing you need to worry about." Gil said, leaning over and kissing her neck.

"Gil!" she said, shifting a bit so she could sit in his lap and look him in the eye.

"She just said that you said that you were thinking of getting married again one day." Gil said, a smile playing on his lips.

"I did not say that!" Catherine said quickly. Grissom raised his eyebrows. "She said that she was happy that you and I are together and she's really glad that you're around because it was like having a proper family again." Catherine explained. Gil smiled, touched. He was glad that Lindsey had accepted them being together so easily otherwise it could have posed some difficult problems. "And then, out of the blue, she asked me that if Uncle Gil ever proposed what would I say, and I said that I would say 'Yes'." Catherine finished, looking a bit embarrassed. Grissom kissed her neck tenderly. She looked adorable when she was all flushed and self-conscious. "Which is completely different from saying that you and I should head down to the nearest chapel ASAP and get hitched because that's not what I'm saying. I mean even if we were getting married, which we're not, everything would have to be planned and -"

"Cath," Gil interrupted and brushed his lips against hers before kissing her deeply. He pulled away leaving her breathless and rested his forehead against hers. "I do want to marry you one day but I want to be the one to ask you and I want it to very special and memorable."

"You're serious." Catherine said, surprise evident in her voice as she cupped his face.

"Never more so." Gil said, staring into her eyes. His hands which had been resting on her lap slowly slid under her top and ran up and down her back in slow, tingly motions making her shudder involuntarily. "I love you and I want to be there for you and Lindsey 24/7."

All Catherine could do was smile. What she was feeling right now was so much more than happiness she couldn't even begin to describe it. "Well, I've got to warn you: Lindsey leaves her smelly socks all around the house."

"And she told me you were the one who did that!" Gil grinned giving her a look overpowered with love. He almost had to pinch himself that it was Catherine, _his_ Catherine sitting on top of him now. How on earth did a guy like him get to be so lucky!

She shifted a bit, straddling him. "How long have we got until Lindsey's home?" she whispered into his ear seductively.

"You've got work in a couple of hours." Gil told her but making no attempt to pull away from her touches.

"You know I'll sleep all the better after this." She grinned as they kissed.

He felt her hands reach for his belt buckle and he gave up trying to control himself, instead shifting her off of him and pinning her to the settee.

"God guys it's like the third time I've caught you two this week." Lindsey said, dropping her schoolbag on the floor and throwing them a look of disgust as she headed to the kitchen to get a drink.

Gil coughed to hide a chuckle and rolled off of Catherine. Catherine pulled her top down and gave her daughter a guilty smile. "Sorry sweetie. How was school?"

"Well, you know, I got caught making out with a senior round the back of the bike-shed so I got detention but it's alright because I skipped out on class so I wouldn't have to go." Lindsey shrugged as Catherine raised her eyebrows. "Relax Mom. It was fine. Got some stupid science project to do though."

"Now now Lindsey, you know science is never stupid." Gil said coming up behind her and ruffling her hair to annoy her.

"Maybe you'd like to help me then." Lindsey said turning to him with an angelic smile plastered to her face.

"Maybe." Gil winked deliberately splashing her with water as he washed his hands.

"Hey!" Lindsey screeched and splashed him back.

Catherine watched their interaction with a soft smile on her face. It seemed that ever since she and Gil had started dating things in her life had slowly been getting better and better. The first few times he had come round, Lindsey had put on her sulky teenage act but Gil had a way with her and she very soon relaxed around him and was even getting on much better with Catherine.

"Hey Lindsey. You know we talked about how one day I might have to change my work hours?" Lindsey nodded. "Well I got promoted to Swing Shift supervisor."

"That's great Mom." Lindsey said, hugging Catherine. Catherine raised her eyebrows at Gil over her daughter's shoulder. Gil just laughed and winked.

"Yeah, but there's a downside, I know you only just got home but I need to go get some sleep before my next shift starts." Catherine said, smoothing her daughter's hair down. "I'll be down to make you dinner before I go and we'll catch up later, okay?"

"Sure. I've got homework to do anyway." Lindsey said emptying some books onto the kitchen table.

"You still going to be here when I wake up?" Catherine asked kissing Gil softly on the mouth.

"Of course, go get some rest." He ordered. Catherine flashed him a smile before heading upstairs.

Gil watched her walk up the stairs thoughtfully. When he heard the bedroom door close he turned to Lindsey. "Lindsey, I need to ask you something ……….."

**A/N:- Okies that's it for the moment. More soon ….**


	2. Part Two

**Part Two**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or CSI. I do however own my imagination, my Muse, my insanity, my fangirliness and my dreams.**_

**A/N:- If you don't like OOC fluff then I guarantee you're not going to like this.**

"Hey Catherine, I think I found something."

Catherine turned around and walked over to where Warwick was kneeling on the ground. She shone her torch on what he was pointing at and examined it.

"Bag it." She told him. "You finished with the perimeter yet?" she called over to Nick.

"Yup. Got a few footprints and cigarette butts." Nick said. "Looks like our guy's definitely not the smartest criminal out there."

"Either that or the guy to who those belong to is perfectly innocent." Catherine mused. "I've just finished the secondary walk through so I think we're done here."

"Great, let's get back to the lab." Warwick said loading the Denali with the evidence

"You know, I don't get it." Nick said as the three of them drove back to the lab. "Why would a woman kill her husband, a man that she supposedly loved, just because she _thought_ he was having an affair?"

"Don't underestimate the power of jealousy as a motive." Catherine said, pulling into the LVPD car park.

"Well, you didn't kill Eddie." Nick pointed out.

"I had a daughter in the house." Catherine stated, popping the trunk and supervising as the guys unloaded the evidence.

"Hey Catherine!" called the familiar voice of Greg Sanders as he walked up to them.

"Hey Greg. You just started shift?" Catherine asked. He was smirking which usually meant trouble was following.

"Catherine, you would tell me if you were cheating on me right?" he said, leaning up against the side of the car getting as close to Catherine as he dared. Nick and Warwick chuckled.

"I wasn't aware that we were dating but sure thing Greg." Catherine replied, offhandedly, convinced that this was Greg's roundabout way of saying that he had some interesting evidence pertaining to the case or something.

"Because I have the distinct feel that there's another guy in your life that you're not telling us about."

Catherine looked up at him just a little too quickly and Nick and Warwick looked at her curiously. "I'm not even going to ask how you came to that conclusion – not that it's any of your business anyway." She said, grabbing a bag as the four of them headed into the lab.

As they walked into reception they were met there by Sara who was looking at Catherine with the same grin that Greg had on his face.

"Okay, what's going on?" Catherine demanded.

"Catherine, I just want to say that I'm so jealous. I think you're dating the sweetest guy on this earth." Sara told her.

"Hey!" Nick said quietly insulted, nudging her.

Sara smiled up at him but then looked back at Catherine. "You should really take a look at your office."

"Because some lucky guy is definitely going to get some amazing sex tonight." Greg added. Catherine shot him a look mixed with curiosity and disgust as she hurried down the corridor to her office, the others following her like sheep.

"Oh my God." She said quietly as she opened the door.

"Wow some guy must be really head-over-heels to do something like this for you Cath." Warwick said as everyone looked around in wonder.

"Oh my God." Catherine said again, trying to process the scene, making sure it would be etched in her memory forever.

The floor, her desk, the bookshelves, the window sills – everything - was covered in rose petals and on her desk was the biggest flower arrangement she had ever scene outside of a botanical garden. Her whole office was glowing, a mixture of reds, pinks and yellows and the sweet smell was overwhelming. She was actually speechless. Never in a million years did she think anyone could love her this much to do this for her ……

"I'm here to arrest you for raiding a flower shop Ms Willows." Catherine turned to see Brass had joined the growing crowd at her doorway. "Any idea who might have done this?" Jim asked with a grin.

"I-" Catherine started but that was all she could manage. She gingerly made her way to her desk, trying not to squash as many petals as she could, and read the gift card attached to the flowers. 'Catherine, go to the break room' was all it said.

"Who's it from?" Greg demanded.

"Cath, are we ever going to find out?" Warwick questioned.

Catherine silently pushed past them and headed towards the break room, hardly aware that she had a silly grin plastered to her face. He never failed to surprise her ….. just as she thought she finally knew him he continued to pull another trick out of his sleeve to leave her feeling giddy and more in love with him than she ever thought was possible.

"About time!" Lindsey said, jumping up as soon as Catherine entered the break room.

Catherine looked at her confused. "Lindsey, what are you doing here?"

"Come on." Lindsey said, grabbing her mother's hand and tugging her towards the door.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"What are you doing? I'm still on the clock, I've got to work …"

Lindsey did not appear to be listening though and instead broke into a jog dragging her mother across the car park and down the street.

"Lindsey, please tell me what's going on!" Catherine pleaded, out of breath as they stopped by the entrance to a park.

"Go in and carry on walking in a straight line." Lindsey instructed.

"What?" Catherine exclaimed, bemused. She saw the others heading their way as their curiosity got the better of them.

"Just do it." Lindsey said, folding her arms and giving her an annoyed look.

She looked remarkably like Catherine herself and after giving her daughter another questioning look, Catherine opened the gate and started walking.

She couldn't have been walking more than a minute when she saw it – a single flame flickering in the moonlight coming from a candle. As she got closer she saw it was situated in the centre of a blanket laid out for a three course meal.

"Hey beautiful." Came a voice from behind her as an arm wrapped around her stomach.

"You are amazing." She said emphasising the words and turning round to face him. "What's the occasion?" she asked smoothing her hands over Gil's black suit. It was unusual to see him dressed up like this when he didn't have a court date or official function to go to.

"Well, I thought after working hard at the crime scene you could do with something to eat." Gil said, walking over to the blanket and removing lids off of plates of food.

"That still doesn't explain what we're doing in the middle of the park in the pitch black in the middle of shift and why someone exchanged my office for a florist's." Catherine said watching Gil sit down and take a bit of chicken and pop it into his mouth.

"Sit and relax." He instructed. "So the flowers …. Too over the top?" he asked, looking at her closely trying to gauge a reaction.

Catherine shook her head. "It's honestly the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me Gil …. Though I think it might have made the others _slightly_ suspicious." She laughed, leaning over to kiss Gil softly.

Gil grinned. The whole romantic gestures … he had never had the need to any of it before he and Catherine had started dating and he was unsure about how she would take it. Thankfully she had liked it. "Have something to eat." He said nudging the food towards her.

She looked at him hard. "You're not going to tell me what this is all about are you?" she asked, picking up a fork.

Gil shrugged. "I just thought I would be spontaneous and surprise you with this as a kind of 'well done for doing such a great job as supervisor' thing."

Catherine hid a smile. "I don't believe it. What is this really for?"

Gil looked at her, the candlelight flickering over her face, she was radiant and looked like an angel. "Why don't you stop asking the questions and let me ask one." He said.

Catherine put down her cutlery and wiped her hands on her napkin. "Okay." She said curiously.

Gil moved towards her and reached into his pocket going down on one knee. "Catherine, will you marry me?" he said opening up the little black box.

Catherine looked at him, her breath catching slightly in her throat. Sure they had talked about marriage, they had talked about their life together but she was still surprised. Surprised that Gil was so romantic, surprised that he didn't mind this being so public and surprised that she hadn't put two and two together from the moment she saw her office. "Yes, do you even need to ask?" she said, crying with happiness as Gil slipped the ring on her finger and she leant forward into his embrace.

"I love you so much." Gil said, his voice muffled in her hair.

"I love you too." She said pulling away and pressing her lips against his.

Sara, Nick, Jim, Warrick and Greg looked on, their mouths gaping.

"Catherine and Grissom … who would've thought." Warrick muttered, stunned.

"You know, it does explain a lot of things." Sara said looking thoughtful. "I mean notice how they didn't take the shift change and team break-up as badly as we did."

"And the fact that even though they work different shifts, they always seem to be in the lab at the same time." Nick added.

"You know I walked in on them once." Brass said.

"And you didn't tell us!" Greg exclaimed.

"I was sworn to ultimate secrecy on pain of death." Brass explained. "I don't think I've ever seen Grissom so flustered though."

"How long has this been going on Lindsey?" Greg asked the little girl.

"They've been officially dating for about ten months now but whenever people ask, they always say it's been going on for twenty years."

"I think we're being watched." Gil whispered softly.

"Well, we better put on a good show then." Catherine said mischievously, pushing him back down onto the blanket and climbing on top of him and kissing him deeply.

**A/N:- The end! My next project will be up soon. I had great fun writing it! Hehe.**


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